Eliza
"STOP! STOP! STOP!"
I looked up from my phone to see Perri on top of Tau trying to take the controller from him. Tau was trying to push Perri off of him, but they had pinned his hands in between the cushions. I rolled my eyes at them and looked back on my phone waiting for the enraged text from my mom. I knew that she was mad at me but this time she was dragging on her anger. I felt so anxious about what could be in her text, but she usually only waited an hour or two before sending and it had been 6 hours since the incident.
"What is your problem, Eliza? You're always angry but not this angry." Perri said.
I looked over at them, Perri and Tau were now sitting side by side, Tau looking at the shooting game on the television in front of them.
"I got in a fight with my mom earlier today about this dumb thing, but she hasn't texted me about it yet. After I storm off, she usually only takes an hour to send. But it's been six." I answered and sighed.
"Give me your phone." Perri said standing up. They walked over to me and took my phone from my hands and shoved it in the pocket of their jeans.
"Maybe she hasn't texted you because you were right" Perri always tried seeing the positive sides of things but they were often disappointed because nothing was ever good.
"Or her mom is beyond angry and can't even fathom texting her." Tau chimed in; his eyes still glued to the television. I groaned and slumped into the lazy boy chair I was sitting on. Perri sat down back on the couch with Tau and stared at the screen too.
"What was the fight about?" Tau asked.
"She wants me to go stay with my dad over the holiday break." I said, I knew once I said it, they would mock me for even fighting about this. I waited for the laughter, but it didn't come. If Wren was here, she would've already been laughing, thank god she wasn't.
"So, you and your mom are in a fight because you don't want to go to Japan for two weeks? Girl, that is too much drama. I feel like it's just the teenage angst and rebellion attitude fueling this, once again." Perri joked.
"I can take your place, Eliza." Tau joined in and grinned at me.
I didn't respond to them. Right after Tau died in the game, I felt a little joy with this as it felt like karma. I stared back at the screen and decided not to engage in this argument. I couldn't talk more about this whole thing. It wasn't about going to Japan; it was about staying with my dad. I hadn't spoken to my dad in 6 years and all of a sudden, he wants me to go to Japan and stay with him for two whole weeks? Also, those weeks would be the only relief of the year for a while so I couldn't waste it on being with my dad all awkwardly.
Hours later I got my phone back from Perri, but my mom still hadn't texted me. I was started to get a lot of anxiety about going home to her. Usually, she would've texted me being mad and saying that we would talk about it more when we both weren't angry and then we would never mention it again. I guess I had to walk home into the landslide of a mess. I grabbed my sweater off of the chair and threw it on over my tight shirt. Tau jumped off the couch and put his hands on my shoulders.
"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!" He screamed and shook me. Perri and I exchanged a glance of concern towards Tau.
"What the fuck, Tau?" I said and pushed his shoulders off of me.
"Wren texted me and said that Elijah said that Mercury said he saw August Nichols outside of Deja Brew earlier today." Tau said. He raised his eyebrows and had a smile on his face. My face went blank. I didn't know what to say. Was August really here? How could she be so dumb to get caught so easily? Why hadn't she said anything about being here?
